Surface cleaning with liquid detergents poses an ongoing problem for consumers. Consumers utilizing liquid detergents as a light-duty liquid dishwashing detergent composition or as a hard surface cleaning composition frequently find surface imperfections such as soil residues, streaks, film and/or spots after washing. Besides, consumers prefer cleaning compositions to be dried faster after the cleaning process. Hence, there remains a need for liquid cleaning compositions which not only clean hard surfaces, but also deliver improved shine and fast-drying.
At the same time, consumers using detergents in automatic dishwashing frequently find that items placed in a dishwasher to be washed are stained with different kinds of stains which are particularly difficult to remove, especially when it comes to tea and coffee stains. The problem is more acute when the detergent is phosphate free.
It is an object of the present invention to provide polymers which are suitable as an additive to cleaning compositions for hard surfaces and which deliver improved shine and fast-drying as well as an improved stain removal from hard surfaces.
The use of polyalkyleneimines in cleaning compositions is known. Traditionally, polyalkyleneimines have been used in laundry detergents to provide soil suspension benefits. Polyethyleneimines have also been used in hard surface cleaning compositions to provide different benefits. WO2011/051646 discloses a method of treating hard surfaces to improve soil resistance, particularly resistance to oily soils, which comprises applying to the surface a composition comprising a quaternised polyamine which has been block propoxylated and then block ethoxylated. WO2010/020765 discloses the use of a composition comprising a polyalkyleneimine and/or a salt or derivative thereof for the prevention of corrosion of non-metallic inorganic items during a washing or rinsing process.
US2007/0275868A1 reads on a liquid detergent composition comprising an alkoxylated polyethylenimine with one or two alkoxylation modification per nitrogen atom. The degree of permanent quaternization may be from 0% to 30% of the polyethyleneimine backbone nitrogen atoms. WO2006/108856 reads on an amphiphilic water-soluble alkoxylated polyalkyleneimines comprising ethylenoxy and propylenoxy units and having a degree of quaternization of up to 50% for use as additives for laundry detergents and cleaning compositions.
WO2009/060059 describes amphiphilic water-soluble alkoxylated polyalkyleneimines comprising ethylenoxy and propylenoxy units for use as additives for laundry detergents.